Onyx has released a newer updated version of their 13.3-inch Onyx Boox Max that comes with an upgraded higher resolution E Ink screen.

The new version is called the Onyx Boox Max Carta, and it’s now available from Banggood for $679 USD with free shipping.

It went up for pre-order at the end of last month and it just started shipping last week.

All the features and hardware are the same as the previous model; the screen is the only difference between them.

The original Max had an E Ink Mobius screen with a resolution of 1600 x 1200. The newer version has a 2200 x 1650 E Ink Carta screen.

That bumps the pixels density up from 150 ppi to 212 ppi so text is sharper and clearer and the screen has better contrast with the Carta display.

Otherwise the Carta version has the same features as the previous model. It runs Android 4.0 and comes with 16GB of storage space, with a memory card slot for expansion, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for connectivity, and it has an electromagnetic stylus pen for on-screen writing and note-taking.

It also supports audio and text-to-speech, but it lacks a frontlight and the touchscreen supports stylus touch only.

How do you know it will be a “much enhanced model” when they haven’t even specified what any of the specs or upgrades will be yet? It’ll probably add a capacitive touchscreen but that much hasn’t even been confirmed yet. There’s no point waiting for what might exist someday if you need something now! There’s a newer and better version of just about everything coming at some point.

The e-ink tablet makers should team up with Steve from Xunlong. They’re making really cheap boards for DIY markets. $9 for a 1.2 GHz quad-core. $30 models already have 4x64bit cores, 2 gigs of RAM. The bigger screens should be paired with this kind of tech. Maybe the 2 month uptime isn’t important on larger devices. Maybe people want tablets with few days worth of uptime, but a lot more performance.

Hardware is not the only issue, apparently the situation with drivers is even worse – stuck with Android 4.0 forever. 4.0 was released 6 years ago. The kernels can be even older. Apparently all products based on i.MX 6 and similar aren’t going to get any updates anymore.

Paper industry has grown like a big tree, causing a big shadow under it, this ereader industry is like a small sapling in that shadow, struggling to get enough light to grow healthy and big. It has to differentiate well enough to be justified as an ultimate alternative for paper. Electronic strorage is still not as reliable as paper, always intangible. Which is where it should become strong and win the hearts of masses that the content owned by then lasts for their life time. Unfortunately, electronics industry it self is young and not well imbedded in the peoples mind as a reliable and appreciating asset.